Fluid dispenser



Dec. 9, 1969 R. F. AS I 3, 8

FLUID DISPENSER Filed April 17. 1967 lllll I I ROBERT r? LAAS I N VENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,482,739 FLUID DISPENSER Robert F. Laas,Houston, Tex., assignor to Imagineering Unlimited, Inc., Houston, Tex.,a corporation of Texas Filed Apr. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 636,234 Int. Cl.B6511 47/18 U.S. Cl. 222-182 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fluiddispenser for selectively dispensing in drops fluids such as medicines,oils, and the like, having a rigid barrel and a flexible nozzle thereonforming a seal for said barrel and having an axial flow passagewaytherethrough, said nozzle being detachably mounted in said barrel and acap also mountable on said barrel over said nozzle having means withinsaid cap to engage said barrel and to engage and close said flexiblenozzle.

Summary of the invention A fluid dispenser having a tubular barrel and asqueeze nozzle detachably mounted on one end of said barrel, said nozzlehaving an axial passageway through the forward tip, and a cap for saidbarrel detachabl mounted on said barrel and having means for closingsaid passageway in said tip when said cap is in position on said barrel.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a side elevational, crosssectional view of the device, and

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational cross sectional view of a modified formof the device.

Description of the preferred embodiments In the drawings the numeral 1designates a rigid barrel, tubular in conformation and open at one endas at 2, said barrel having an annular flange 3 formed adjacent saidopen end on the inside wall thereof. A flexible nozzle 4, formed of ayieldable material, such as squeezable plastic, or the like, is providedwith the enlarged open end 5 having the external annular groove 6adapted to receive the flange 3 of the barrel when in engaged position.The nozzle 4 tapers to the diametrically reduced end portion 7, throughwhich an axial passageway is formed. Reinforcing ribs 8 are formed onthe external side walls of the nozzle 4. These ribs provide radialsqueeze mediums, but provide axial resistance to distortion.

A cap 9, tubular in conformation, fits over the nozzle 4 and abuts theend of the barrel 1. The upper inside wall of the cap 9 has the chamber10 adapted to receive the reduced end of the nozzle 4, and to close thepassageway therethrough, when the cap is moved into position on thebarrel 1, and the inside longitudinal walls of the cap 9 will abut thereinforcing ribs 8, which will yield to receive the cap, and to centerthe nozzle in the cap and to retain the cap in position. If desired, asuitable clip, as 11, may be mounted on the cap 9, so that the devicemay be carried in a pocket, in the same manner as a fountain pen.

Any desired fluid may be stored in the barrel 1, such as medicines andoils, and when the user wants to use some of this material, the cap 9 isremoved, the tubular barrel 1 is inverted and the nozzle directed towhere the fluid is to be applied, and the user milks the nozzle 4, bysqueezing same, to force drops of fluid out of the nozzle tip throughthe passageway provided. The nozzle 4 is readily detachable from thebarrel 1 and the barrel refilled.

In the form shown in FIGURE 2, the barrel 12 is rigid and shaped toreceive the flexible insert 13, which may be filled with a fluid to bedispensed. The bottom of 3,482,739 Patented Dec. 9, 1969 the insert 13has a removable plug 14, for refilling the insert. The upper end of theinsert 13 is tapered as at 15, forming a nozzle, and the end of thenozzle is received in the chamber 17 formed in the cap 18. In this form,the nozzle of the insert will be tubular with inwardly tapered insidewalls gradually closing the nozzle, so that when it is desired todispense material in the insert, the end of the nozzle may be clippedoff, leaving a passageway through which the fluid in the insert may beforced out by inverting the barrel and squeezing the nozzle. When thecap is replaced on the barrel, after use, the chamber 17 will receivethe end of the nozzle and close the passageway therethrough.

While the foregoing are considered preferred embodiments of theinvention, they are by way of illustration only, the broad principle ofthe invention being defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a dispensing device, a rigid tubular barrel, one end of saidbarrel being open, means adjacent said open end for receiving one end ofan elongated flexible nozzle, the other end of said nozzle being reducedand having a passageway therethrough and having an exposed portionextending outwardly from said barrel, said exposed portion beingcompressible by finger pressure to dispense the contents of the barrelin drops, a cap on said barrel having a straight walled chamber thereinpositioned to receive said reduced end of said nozzle and to close saidpassageway therethrough, said nozzle being provided with reinforcingribs longitudinally thereof adapted to abut the inside walls of said capwhen said cap is in position on said barrel and to maintain said nozzleagainst collapse upon seating said reduced end into said chamber.

2. The device defined in claim 1 wherein said barrel has an annularflange on the inside wall adjacent the open end thereof, and said nozzlehas an external annular groove adjacent one end thereof adapted toreceive said annular flange of said barrel forming a liquid seal and ayieldable retaining means.

3. In a dispensing device, a rigid barrel, a cap mounted on one end ofsaid barrel, a flexible insert loosely mounted in said barrel, one endof said insert being open and extendable into said barrel, a plugadapted to be mounted in said open end of said insert, the other end ofsaid insert and a substantial portion of said insert extending out ofsaid barrel and being inwardly tapered forming a nozzle, said cap havinga chamber therein adapted to snugly receive the extended end of saidnozzle when said cap is mounted on said barrel closing the passagewaytherethrough, said nozzle having reinforcing ribs mounted thereon andadapted to maintain said nozzle against collapse upon mounting of saidcap and to abut the inside walls of said cap when said cap is inposition on said barrel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,898,014 8/1959 Borah 222570 X3,259,279 7/ 1966 Nojiri 222-562 X 2,053,892 9/1936 Beck 222490 X2,571,010 10/1951 Busch 222490 X 2,684,789 7/1954 Marchant 222-490 X2,713,872 7/1955 Juengling.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner N. L. STACK, JR., Assistant ExaminerUS. 01. X.R.

